Post by Curiosity on May 15, 2009 22:21:17 GMT -5
Characters Involved:
Niabi, female elk
Catori, female elk
Grum, male brown bear
Ursus, female brown bear
Misree, female ferret
Gully, male badger
Sage, female lynx
=== Hilltop Vista ===
Well, it was a very long walk, but Niabi had to go see what all the fuss was about. Not that she's complaining; there was plenty of fresh grass along the way, and this is the very best time of year for grass. Nevertheless, she's very cautious as she approaches what appears to be a landmark: if the invitation to be here is as generalized as she's been led to believe, then there's no telling who they might bump into. But having Catori with her makes her feel twice as safe as she would be had she been alone.
Following Niabi on their long walk to wherever it is that they were.. a path of some sorts, Catori remained quiet nearly the entire trek. Not silent mind you, but fairly quiet. With her head in the clouds, the younger adult elk thought mostly about the herd that she and the other two females were attemtping to create. With Faith being so young though, she really considered her and Niabi the only real members. Thoughts processed through her mind about this celebration, but what exactly were they celebrating? The kestrel that had served as their invitor had mentioned 'merrymakers', but ..what were they? What did they do? All of these things were so new to Catori, and the cow elk had a lot on her plate already. She half didn't even want to go all the way out here, but knew that Niabi wanted to, and didn't want to be a stick in the mud, anyway. Trotting up to the elder cow's side, she grinned and flicked her ears forward. "Is this it?" she asked, looking about the area calmly.
It's a mostly silent walk for Grum, who doesn't talk much anyway. Especially when Misree is around; he doesn't get the *chance* to. But he still fancies a glance toward Ursus every once and a while, just out of the curiosity of having someone other than just Misree follow him around. He arrives a little after the elk, under the direction of Misree. Which makes the trip take even longer, since Misree does not have the most impeccable sense of direction! But... there doesn't really appear to be anything here besides two elks. Maybe she went and got it wrong again.
Ursus lumbers along after Grum, looking around and taking in everything with at least some interest. Her pawsteps are heavy and she yawns softly, but she nods to the others she sees on the hill as she walks along behind the other bear.
Misree blinks a little bit. She thought she had *perfect* sense in direction. Mainly because the big ol' bear never told her she was wrong, and never complained of things taking so long. "And we're here!" She says cheerfully currently perched on the bears head. She doesn't bother to worry about anything silly like who's around since she is back atop her bear. Noone would /dare/ to mess with her. She then looks around a bit. "Huh.. maybe that bird that told me about this place was wrong.." She says never one to admit that she herself could possibly be wrong. "Well grum.. take us a bit closer." She says spying a few elk. "maybe the elk are what the bird was talking about?"
But, someone /is/ here. While Flume scampered off to find the right dyes, and some have moved off to gather more creatures, the grumpy ol' badger has stayed put. But he's not been inactive. Some of the ground and soil has been churned up in a wide circle, the grass torn up just under the roots and overturned, flattened underneath his paws. It looks like he's creating a stage, or a fielding area, of some sort. But as he gruffs and grumbles about his work, Gully stops and lifts his hulking head, dark eyes squinting at the arrival of some creatures. Elk, eh. The badger sits back on his hindend and tugs on his nose with a clawed forepaw, "Welcome, welcome!" he chuffs, before looking over his shoulder at a very /larger/ arrivals. "An' welcome to ye'all!!" Grunt.
Niabi shrugs to Catori's question, honestly having no idea what their destination is supposed to be like. If you want to get specific directions to a place, rumors are a terrible way to get them. "Maybe..." is the only answer she can give. At least, until a sound behind her attracts her attention and she spots two bears and, of all things, a ferret behind them. "Well, we're not any more lost than anyone else, at the very least," she says before turning back to continue. When they come within sight of the badger, her doubt is gone. Something interesting must be going on if he's working that hard to setup... something... "Thank you." she replies to the welcome, peering at the circle curiously.
Though she knows that if they were in danger, Niabi and she could fend off all sorts of danger, she can't help but feel slightly nervous around all of these new animals. Two bears, a ferret, and a badger.. the bears causing her the most concern. She sticks close to her herd mate, and says nothing to anyone, except of course the badger, who was so kind as to welcome them to this strange place. "Hello there.. would you mind telling us; is this where the uh.. the 'merry-makers' are supposed to be?" she asks politely, lowering her head down so that she was closer to the smaller mammal's level.
Grum looks up to his forehead, which Misree seems to have made her perch, having gotten tired of his large shoulders rolling back and forth as he walks. He had stopped momentarily, but returns to his lumbering walk at first toward the elks. He stops again to gaze at the badger. And then begins to walk toward /him/, at least until he feels Misree is close enough to discern whatever she wants out of the guy. And then he sits down, with a big thump. "Here?" he asks at last.
Misree peers about as she clings to her bears head. "Hmmmm." She says couriously. She was one for fun, and she had been promised this would be fun. So as the bear heads forward she perks her ears hearing the welcoming she grins. She might even not be her normal mean and nasty self here! stranger things have happened. "Hello Mr. Badger." She comments cheerfully then pets Grum on the head. "Yeah this is fine my dear Grum." She then eyes the stage or well surface he was making. "Is this the place that , the bird meant to go to for fun and the like?" She asks couriously slowly sitting ontop of Grum's head. Keeping her ears perked for his response, but the trek here has left her sleepy.
Gully turns in a slow circle, scrutinizing the hodgepodge gathering that has begun to arrive. Ah, just as always. He nods to each in turn, squinting tiny black eyes at each. "Aye," the bdger offers in general agreement to all, drawing himself to full height and liftings his head, "'Tis the very place the Merrymaker's gather fer our great festival!" Then he turns to the elks, lumbering a few paces closer to the herbivores. "An' per tradition under Luna's great gaze, there'll be no harm to come to another creature during the festival. All creatures on Gaia's surface will be at peace with one another, aye?" He gives the last to all, a leery little twinkle in the corner of his eyes. His warning giving, he chuckles deeply, "'Tis the place t'be."
Ursus hmms as she listens, and flops down onto her side for a rest. "Who are these merrymakers?" she asks the badger, her jaws parting in a massive yawn. "Or what, even."
Niabi isn't very afraid of bears. Oh, she'll be sure to keep her distance, but they're not known for being fast, agile runners, and elk are. This opinion is further strengthened when she realizes that the bear carrying the ferret is taking directions from it. This might normally strike her as funny, but laughing at bears is terribly undiplomatic so she keeps that reaction to herself. Instead she merely sidesteps a little to give them a little more room. She's not so sure she trusts that she'll be unharmed based on solely on tradition, but she feels relatively safe at the moment so it's a moot point for now. "Well, so what exactly are we supposed to do here?"
Catori on the other hand, can't contain herself. The badger's silly gruffs and grunts mixed in with his being so polite and such seem so very disproportionate, and she can't help but kindly chuckle. She doesn't laugh at him, but more or less *with* him. "And would you be the host of this fine event, sir?" she questions with her wide smile, sticking close to both Niabi and the badger. Both seemed to be the best company here, so far. Though, to be fair, she hadn't really given the others a chance. If Niabi didn't move, she didn't move. And so far, the dominant elk didn't move, aside from stepping slightly out of their way.
Grum looks, again, up at Misree blankly. She's being nice? Really? Not the greedy little thing she usually is? She isn't planning something is she? Oooh! Of course. She's /tired/. Any moment now Misree is going to clonk out and not wake up for anything. He listens to Ursus' question but, as soon as she finishes asking it, looks to the badger for the answer. What a strange creature.
Misree lets out a massive yawn. "Yes... should be merry..." She says with a soft chuckle she then nuzzles into Grum's warm and soft fur. "Grum, your in charge now, I am gonna take a little nap." She says cheerfully. She knows Grum is only following her orders because well, this is how it has always been ever since they were young. She knew he had his own mind and didn't need to be told he sin charge. It just made her feel more important doing stuff like that. "Nini grummy.." She says and then... thud. She is now laying on his head zonked out having stayed up a full day without sleep took allot out of her.
Badger Gul should be the last creature to find a bear and a ferret strange companions, but he gives both a light chuckle before he lumbers to the head of the gathering, turning to face all so he can bellow at them easily. Catori's question is answered first, "The Merrymakers are jest a conduit, lassie, fer the real host hasn't made an appearance yet." His cryptic little answer is met with a wink and a waggle of his earth tangled claws. "My companions and I are here t'gather all manner of beasts to our spot, and there be many things to await ye' in the comin' days, to be sure." Snortgrunt. Gully takes a moment to scritch at his chin. He was never good at the /gathering/ part.
Sage meanders back into the area, having been on further exploration after her earlier encounter with the local denizens of the forest. When she returns to the hill where she and her traveling companions first met, she's carrying a fairly long, half-inch thick vine in her muzzle this time, the other end of it dragging along the ground as she pads up the hill. Seems Zephyr did a good job spreading the news, as now there are even more new visitors apparently interested in learning why they're here. Letting Gully answer some of the raised questions, the lynx drops the vine near a small leather scrap on the ground, nudging it closer with a forepaw. When he finishes, she chimes in with what he didn't cover, at least not explicitly. "All sorts of revelry will be found here in the coming days. Some of us sing, some of us tell stories, all of us dance and play games. We also have goods for trade," the stubby-tailed feline adds, gesturing towards the makeshift pouch, reaching a paw inside to bat some of the small trinkets out onto the grass.
Niabi glances at the ferret in time to see it abruptly fall asleep. Well, that's a bad sign when you're supposed to be somewhere fun. Question is, was the ferret egging the bear on or holding it back? The badger's answers get a confused look; she's always liked the theory of riddles and mysteries, but never in practice. So when the lynx shows up and says things that make sense, she gives it an appreciative smile. "Ah, so what's going on today?" she asks, ignoring the pouch. What is a elk supposed to do with a random trinket, even if she /did/ have anything to trade? But stories, dancing, and games are great fun no matter what sort of creature you are.
Dancing? Story telling? Games? All of this seemed like great fun, but were these merrymakers seriously wanting to bring all different types of creatures to one spot, predator and prey alike? Though they seemed like wonderful individuals, were they not foolish for thinking that would ever go according to plan? Not a very spiritual elk, Catori had a hard time believing that just because a deity frowned upon it that that would stop a wolf from attacking her. But, she was open minded. She'd trust these guys, if it seemed to be a deep set tradition. "Well.. sounds interesting." She said with a grin, and looked up at Niabi. "Shall we stay a while?"
Grum is quite used to creatures finding a ferret on a bear quite odd. Most folks don't really talk about it because, well, he's a big bear, but, he doesn't mind one bit really. Misree on the other hand.. well, she's far more irritable than Grum is. So no; no creature needs to worry about the ferret keeping the bear in check. Because mostly, if anything, it's the other way around. In any case, Grum now more actively observes the surroundings now that his friend is asleep on top of his head. He sees the pouch, which immediately catches his attention. Goods to barter? He is thankful Misree is asleep, now, because if she heard this, she would have become immediately excited and something bad may have happened. There's absolutely, *absolutely* nothing you want to do around a ferret like suddenly whipping out a pouch supposedly full of mysterious treasure. Especially *his* ferret. He looks up onto his head cautiously to make sure that she is still asleep. And he far more cautiously picks the words in his following question (they, granted, are not terribly difficult words to pick): "What kind of goods?" Oooh boy.
The badger's eyes go straight to Niabi, small, roundish ears twitching as he scrutinizes the other elk. He wrinkles his long snout and snuffles to himself, shaking his head. She doesn't believe; at least, not yet. The other bear, the one without the ferret, is winked at, "The host'll make 'erself known in due time." Gully chuckles and ambles closer to sage, examining the pouch briefly but leaving the contents untouched. "Fer now, we'll prepare fer the arrival of all creatures." Gully knows that the earth won't allow malice on her soil, however much some seem to be worried about it.
Sage may be a testament herself to the fact that peace is possible to be maintained, at least temporarily, within the imaginary borders of their festival. Aside from the small kestrel, she's the only carnivore among their ragtag band, and they all seem to get along well enough despite the fact; the white lynx does all of her necessary hunting outside of the made-sacred fields. At the bear's question, she glances down at the various items that have spilled out onto the grass as she replies. "Oh, various things we've found throughout all our travels...colorful feathers, shiny rocks, unusual-looking things that appear to have been made at Man's hands..." she trails off, looking back at the much larger carnivore. "Unique items that some have used as decorations in other lands."
Niabi puts a bit more stock in trusting the idea of Luna not liking something than her herdmate, but not because she believes in that particular deity. Well, maybe she /does/ in a way; the deity she believes in is very similar to Luna if Rye's description is accurate, but there are also a few differences. But the more important thing is whether or not the /predators/ believe in Luna, and since many of them do it makes a 'safer' situation. If only she could claim to be under Luna's protection all the time! She turns to Catori and hesitates only a moment before responding, "It seems okay to me." And, since it seems that the real fun will begin later, they might as well go graze while they're waiting. She turns to leave, expecting that Catori will follow.
It seemed that Niabi indeed did want to stay, but perhaps she and the elder elk had the same idea; to graze first, celebrate later. Dancing and story telling weren't great on an empty stomach, and with so many blades of grass beginning to reappear, it'd be a shame to waste such fine feeding opportunities. Seeing Niabi turn and walk off, the younger Catori soon followed, but not before she turned back around and bowed her head respectfully. "Goodbye for now, we'll be back soon!"
Grum looks at the pile of treasure horrified. Silver. Copper. A shiny rock! A shiny rock for pete's sake! Something freezes deep inside of him. He is so glad that he knows Misree will be comatose for the next several hours regardless what happens. If this strange looking lynx actually saying 'shiny rock' out loud does not wake her up, then nothing will. Still. The bear looks over at the carnivores. They've got a good idea. Slowly he gets up to his four paws, balancing the ferret on his head expertly as he does so. "Thank you," he addresses the two on stage, and then turns to Ursus. "Thank you, for walking with us." He figures he'd better leave just in case. "We probably had better go as well." Before the /smell/ of shiny rock wakes Misree up. "Goodbye," he nods toward Ursus and the two performers, and turns around to walk away. And carry Misree far away from the shiny objects until he figures out what to do.
Sage sweeps the smaller items back into the pouch to keep from losing them, smiling pleasantly at the various animals as they prepare to turn in for the evening -- but with promises to return. "I do hope we'll see you back here soon, friends. Fare well until we meet again." The feline Merrymaker seems quite thrilled, regardless - this is the second gathering of creatures that she's seen, and only today... It fills her with hope and happiness, and so the lynx goes along her way, continuing her preparations for the impending celebration with a cheery smile.
Niabi, female elk
Catori, female elk
Grum, male brown bear
Ursus, female brown bear
Misree, female ferret
Gully, male badger
Sage, female lynx
=== Hilltop Vista ===
Well, it was a very long walk, but Niabi had to go see what all the fuss was about. Not that she's complaining; there was plenty of fresh grass along the way, and this is the very best time of year for grass. Nevertheless, she's very cautious as she approaches what appears to be a landmark: if the invitation to be here is as generalized as she's been led to believe, then there's no telling who they might bump into. But having Catori with her makes her feel twice as safe as she would be had she been alone.
Following Niabi on their long walk to wherever it is that they were.. a path of some sorts, Catori remained quiet nearly the entire trek. Not silent mind you, but fairly quiet. With her head in the clouds, the younger adult elk thought mostly about the herd that she and the other two females were attemtping to create. With Faith being so young though, she really considered her and Niabi the only real members. Thoughts processed through her mind about this celebration, but what exactly were they celebrating? The kestrel that had served as their invitor had mentioned 'merrymakers', but ..what were they? What did they do? All of these things were so new to Catori, and the cow elk had a lot on her plate already. She half didn't even want to go all the way out here, but knew that Niabi wanted to, and didn't want to be a stick in the mud, anyway. Trotting up to the elder cow's side, she grinned and flicked her ears forward. "Is this it?" she asked, looking about the area calmly.
It's a mostly silent walk for Grum, who doesn't talk much anyway. Especially when Misree is around; he doesn't get the *chance* to. But he still fancies a glance toward Ursus every once and a while, just out of the curiosity of having someone other than just Misree follow him around. He arrives a little after the elk, under the direction of Misree. Which makes the trip take even longer, since Misree does not have the most impeccable sense of direction! But... there doesn't really appear to be anything here besides two elks. Maybe she went and got it wrong again.
Ursus lumbers along after Grum, looking around and taking in everything with at least some interest. Her pawsteps are heavy and she yawns softly, but she nods to the others she sees on the hill as she walks along behind the other bear.
Misree blinks a little bit. She thought she had *perfect* sense in direction. Mainly because the big ol' bear never told her she was wrong, and never complained of things taking so long. "And we're here!" She says cheerfully currently perched on the bears head. She doesn't bother to worry about anything silly like who's around since she is back atop her bear. Noone would /dare/ to mess with her. She then looks around a bit. "Huh.. maybe that bird that told me about this place was wrong.." She says never one to admit that she herself could possibly be wrong. "Well grum.. take us a bit closer." She says spying a few elk. "maybe the elk are what the bird was talking about?"
But, someone /is/ here. While Flume scampered off to find the right dyes, and some have moved off to gather more creatures, the grumpy ol' badger has stayed put. But he's not been inactive. Some of the ground and soil has been churned up in a wide circle, the grass torn up just under the roots and overturned, flattened underneath his paws. It looks like he's creating a stage, or a fielding area, of some sort. But as he gruffs and grumbles about his work, Gully stops and lifts his hulking head, dark eyes squinting at the arrival of some creatures. Elk, eh. The badger sits back on his hindend and tugs on his nose with a clawed forepaw, "Welcome, welcome!" he chuffs, before looking over his shoulder at a very /larger/ arrivals. "An' welcome to ye'all!!" Grunt.
Niabi shrugs to Catori's question, honestly having no idea what their destination is supposed to be like. If you want to get specific directions to a place, rumors are a terrible way to get them. "Maybe..." is the only answer she can give. At least, until a sound behind her attracts her attention and she spots two bears and, of all things, a ferret behind them. "Well, we're not any more lost than anyone else, at the very least," she says before turning back to continue. When they come within sight of the badger, her doubt is gone. Something interesting must be going on if he's working that hard to setup... something... "Thank you." she replies to the welcome, peering at the circle curiously.
Though she knows that if they were in danger, Niabi and she could fend off all sorts of danger, she can't help but feel slightly nervous around all of these new animals. Two bears, a ferret, and a badger.. the bears causing her the most concern. She sticks close to her herd mate, and says nothing to anyone, except of course the badger, who was so kind as to welcome them to this strange place. "Hello there.. would you mind telling us; is this where the uh.. the 'merry-makers' are supposed to be?" she asks politely, lowering her head down so that she was closer to the smaller mammal's level.
Grum looks up to his forehead, which Misree seems to have made her perch, having gotten tired of his large shoulders rolling back and forth as he walks. He had stopped momentarily, but returns to his lumbering walk at first toward the elks. He stops again to gaze at the badger. And then begins to walk toward /him/, at least until he feels Misree is close enough to discern whatever she wants out of the guy. And then he sits down, with a big thump. "Here?" he asks at last.
Misree peers about as she clings to her bears head. "Hmmmm." She says couriously. She was one for fun, and she had been promised this would be fun. So as the bear heads forward she perks her ears hearing the welcoming she grins. She might even not be her normal mean and nasty self here! stranger things have happened. "Hello Mr. Badger." She comments cheerfully then pets Grum on the head. "Yeah this is fine my dear Grum." She then eyes the stage or well surface he was making. "Is this the place that , the bird meant to go to for fun and the like?" She asks couriously slowly sitting ontop of Grum's head. Keeping her ears perked for his response, but the trek here has left her sleepy.
Gully turns in a slow circle, scrutinizing the hodgepodge gathering that has begun to arrive. Ah, just as always. He nods to each in turn, squinting tiny black eyes at each. "Aye," the bdger offers in general agreement to all, drawing himself to full height and liftings his head, "'Tis the very place the Merrymaker's gather fer our great festival!" Then he turns to the elks, lumbering a few paces closer to the herbivores. "An' per tradition under Luna's great gaze, there'll be no harm to come to another creature during the festival. All creatures on Gaia's surface will be at peace with one another, aye?" He gives the last to all, a leery little twinkle in the corner of his eyes. His warning giving, he chuckles deeply, "'Tis the place t'be."
Ursus hmms as she listens, and flops down onto her side for a rest. "Who are these merrymakers?" she asks the badger, her jaws parting in a massive yawn. "Or what, even."
Niabi isn't very afraid of bears. Oh, she'll be sure to keep her distance, but they're not known for being fast, agile runners, and elk are. This opinion is further strengthened when she realizes that the bear carrying the ferret is taking directions from it. This might normally strike her as funny, but laughing at bears is terribly undiplomatic so she keeps that reaction to herself. Instead she merely sidesteps a little to give them a little more room. She's not so sure she trusts that she'll be unharmed based on solely on tradition, but she feels relatively safe at the moment so it's a moot point for now. "Well, so what exactly are we supposed to do here?"
Catori on the other hand, can't contain herself. The badger's silly gruffs and grunts mixed in with his being so polite and such seem so very disproportionate, and she can't help but kindly chuckle. She doesn't laugh at him, but more or less *with* him. "And would you be the host of this fine event, sir?" she questions with her wide smile, sticking close to both Niabi and the badger. Both seemed to be the best company here, so far. Though, to be fair, she hadn't really given the others a chance. If Niabi didn't move, she didn't move. And so far, the dominant elk didn't move, aside from stepping slightly out of their way.
Grum looks, again, up at Misree blankly. She's being nice? Really? Not the greedy little thing she usually is? She isn't planning something is she? Oooh! Of course. She's /tired/. Any moment now Misree is going to clonk out and not wake up for anything. He listens to Ursus' question but, as soon as she finishes asking it, looks to the badger for the answer. What a strange creature.
Misree lets out a massive yawn. "Yes... should be merry..." She says with a soft chuckle she then nuzzles into Grum's warm and soft fur. "Grum, your in charge now, I am gonna take a little nap." She says cheerfully. She knows Grum is only following her orders because well, this is how it has always been ever since they were young. She knew he had his own mind and didn't need to be told he sin charge. It just made her feel more important doing stuff like that. "Nini grummy.." She says and then... thud. She is now laying on his head zonked out having stayed up a full day without sleep took allot out of her.
Badger Gul should be the last creature to find a bear and a ferret strange companions, but he gives both a light chuckle before he lumbers to the head of the gathering, turning to face all so he can bellow at them easily. Catori's question is answered first, "The Merrymakers are jest a conduit, lassie, fer the real host hasn't made an appearance yet." His cryptic little answer is met with a wink and a waggle of his earth tangled claws. "My companions and I are here t'gather all manner of beasts to our spot, and there be many things to await ye' in the comin' days, to be sure." Snortgrunt. Gully takes a moment to scritch at his chin. He was never good at the /gathering/ part.
Sage meanders back into the area, having been on further exploration after her earlier encounter with the local denizens of the forest. When she returns to the hill where she and her traveling companions first met, she's carrying a fairly long, half-inch thick vine in her muzzle this time, the other end of it dragging along the ground as she pads up the hill. Seems Zephyr did a good job spreading the news, as now there are even more new visitors apparently interested in learning why they're here. Letting Gully answer some of the raised questions, the lynx drops the vine near a small leather scrap on the ground, nudging it closer with a forepaw. When he finishes, she chimes in with what he didn't cover, at least not explicitly. "All sorts of revelry will be found here in the coming days. Some of us sing, some of us tell stories, all of us dance and play games. We also have goods for trade," the stubby-tailed feline adds, gesturing towards the makeshift pouch, reaching a paw inside to bat some of the small trinkets out onto the grass.
Niabi glances at the ferret in time to see it abruptly fall asleep. Well, that's a bad sign when you're supposed to be somewhere fun. Question is, was the ferret egging the bear on or holding it back? The badger's answers get a confused look; she's always liked the theory of riddles and mysteries, but never in practice. So when the lynx shows up and says things that make sense, she gives it an appreciative smile. "Ah, so what's going on today?" she asks, ignoring the pouch. What is a elk supposed to do with a random trinket, even if she /did/ have anything to trade? But stories, dancing, and games are great fun no matter what sort of creature you are.
Dancing? Story telling? Games? All of this seemed like great fun, but were these merrymakers seriously wanting to bring all different types of creatures to one spot, predator and prey alike? Though they seemed like wonderful individuals, were they not foolish for thinking that would ever go according to plan? Not a very spiritual elk, Catori had a hard time believing that just because a deity frowned upon it that that would stop a wolf from attacking her. But, she was open minded. She'd trust these guys, if it seemed to be a deep set tradition. "Well.. sounds interesting." She said with a grin, and looked up at Niabi. "Shall we stay a while?"
Grum is quite used to creatures finding a ferret on a bear quite odd. Most folks don't really talk about it because, well, he's a big bear, but, he doesn't mind one bit really. Misree on the other hand.. well, she's far more irritable than Grum is. So no; no creature needs to worry about the ferret keeping the bear in check. Because mostly, if anything, it's the other way around. In any case, Grum now more actively observes the surroundings now that his friend is asleep on top of his head. He sees the pouch, which immediately catches his attention. Goods to barter? He is thankful Misree is asleep, now, because if she heard this, she would have become immediately excited and something bad may have happened. There's absolutely, *absolutely* nothing you want to do around a ferret like suddenly whipping out a pouch supposedly full of mysterious treasure. Especially *his* ferret. He looks up onto his head cautiously to make sure that she is still asleep. And he far more cautiously picks the words in his following question (they, granted, are not terribly difficult words to pick): "What kind of goods?" Oooh boy.
The badger's eyes go straight to Niabi, small, roundish ears twitching as he scrutinizes the other elk. He wrinkles his long snout and snuffles to himself, shaking his head. She doesn't believe; at least, not yet. The other bear, the one without the ferret, is winked at, "The host'll make 'erself known in due time." Gully chuckles and ambles closer to sage, examining the pouch briefly but leaving the contents untouched. "Fer now, we'll prepare fer the arrival of all creatures." Gully knows that the earth won't allow malice on her soil, however much some seem to be worried about it.
Sage may be a testament herself to the fact that peace is possible to be maintained, at least temporarily, within the imaginary borders of their festival. Aside from the small kestrel, she's the only carnivore among their ragtag band, and they all seem to get along well enough despite the fact; the white lynx does all of her necessary hunting outside of the made-sacred fields. At the bear's question, she glances down at the various items that have spilled out onto the grass as she replies. "Oh, various things we've found throughout all our travels...colorful feathers, shiny rocks, unusual-looking things that appear to have been made at Man's hands..." she trails off, looking back at the much larger carnivore. "Unique items that some have used as decorations in other lands."
Niabi puts a bit more stock in trusting the idea of Luna not liking something than her herdmate, but not because she believes in that particular deity. Well, maybe she /does/ in a way; the deity she believes in is very similar to Luna if Rye's description is accurate, but there are also a few differences. But the more important thing is whether or not the /predators/ believe in Luna, and since many of them do it makes a 'safer' situation. If only she could claim to be under Luna's protection all the time! She turns to Catori and hesitates only a moment before responding, "It seems okay to me." And, since it seems that the real fun will begin later, they might as well go graze while they're waiting. She turns to leave, expecting that Catori will follow.
It seemed that Niabi indeed did want to stay, but perhaps she and the elder elk had the same idea; to graze first, celebrate later. Dancing and story telling weren't great on an empty stomach, and with so many blades of grass beginning to reappear, it'd be a shame to waste such fine feeding opportunities. Seeing Niabi turn and walk off, the younger Catori soon followed, but not before she turned back around and bowed her head respectfully. "Goodbye for now, we'll be back soon!"
Grum looks at the pile of treasure horrified. Silver. Copper. A shiny rock! A shiny rock for pete's sake! Something freezes deep inside of him. He is so glad that he knows Misree will be comatose for the next several hours regardless what happens. If this strange looking lynx actually saying 'shiny rock' out loud does not wake her up, then nothing will. Still. The bear looks over at the carnivores. They've got a good idea. Slowly he gets up to his four paws, balancing the ferret on his head expertly as he does so. "Thank you," he addresses the two on stage, and then turns to Ursus. "Thank you, for walking with us." He figures he'd better leave just in case. "We probably had better go as well." Before the /smell/ of shiny rock wakes Misree up. "Goodbye," he nods toward Ursus and the two performers, and turns around to walk away. And carry Misree far away from the shiny objects until he figures out what to do.
Sage sweeps the smaller items back into the pouch to keep from losing them, smiling pleasantly at the various animals as they prepare to turn in for the evening -- but with promises to return. "I do hope we'll see you back here soon, friends. Fare well until we meet again." The feline Merrymaker seems quite thrilled, regardless - this is the second gathering of creatures that she's seen, and only today... It fills her with hope and happiness, and so the lynx goes along her way, continuing her preparations for the impending celebration with a cheery smile.